


A Small Gift

by IllusionsOfInsanity



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Canon Compliant, Drabble, Eventual Claude von Riegan/My Unit | Byleth, Eventual Romance, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Golden Deer Route, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Mentioned Claude von Riegan, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Time Skip, Spoilers, he shows up later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:08:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25329070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IllusionsOfInsanity/pseuds/IllusionsOfInsanity
Summary: After losing so much, it was hard to even remember it was her birthday, let alone feel in the mood to celebrate it. She had other things to worry about, like getting her students to graduation. It seems her house leader had other plans.
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth & Claude von Riegan
Kudos: 3





	A Small Gift

There was something small sitting on her desk that morning.

Byleth tilted her head and stared at it. She couldn't remember asking the other professors for any supplies lately. She took a few steps closer, only to notice it was a gift box, a yellow bow glistening in the early morning light.

She froze midstep. A...gift? The fog in her brain shifted for a moment. It must have been left for one of the students, she decided. That must be it.

The professor carefully took the box in her hands and inspected it. Surely there would be some sort of sign as to who the recipient was _somewhere_. She couldn't recall any birthdays in her class... Hilda's had been a short time ago. Perhaps it was a gift for her?

That was when Byleth noticed the soft handwriting on a small card that sat where the box had been.

_'Byleth',_ it said in a delicate hand. Her eyes widened. For her? Why?

She felt the brain fog shift again. Well, it was her birthday... but surely not a soul in the monastary knew that it was. The only one who had known beside herself had been her father, Jeralt.

It was the first one without him.

Now, she no longer had the voice of Sothis to rumble in her skull, either. It had been her birthday as well, hadn't it?

Tears started to form in her eyes as the nawing teeth of grief bit into her chest. She killed the murderer of her father, but that did nothing to soothe the ache in her heart. Now she was without him and Sothis. The monastary felt alien in the haze of pain.

Byleth took a breath and counted until her eyes stopped stinging. She had to focus. Her students would be arriving for class in mere hours. She did not want them to see her crying again, not so soon after they had such a fright. She had to be strong for them.

After a moment of thought, she decided it must be a coincidence and poked at the ribbon. Perhaps it was a thank you gift from someone? She lifted the lid and felt the confusion return as she found a bracelet inside. A bracelet? With a gentle hand, she lifted it out of the box and inspected it with a soft eye. It was rather cute, with woven burnished gold ivy weaving around the band, only to part for a proud stag. It seemed very fitting for her Golden Deer house.

She could feel the corner of her lip quirk upward. It was a nice piece of jewelry, even if she didn't really wear any. She glanced down in the box and found a letter tucked away inside. The handwriting was still just as delicate as before, though she found her eyes widening when she read it.

 _'...your little golden deer got you a gift. Happy birthday! From, Claude'_ , it said, the script painstakingly neat and pretty.

It was a birthday gift? Byleth shut her eyes for a moment and let her thumb brush against a metal leaf. She quirked an eyebrow when she found it satisfyingly smooth and cold to the touch. It was most certainly nice and a kind gesture, but how did he even know her--

"Oh," she mutteted aloud. He had borrowed her father's diary, much to her displeasure at the time. She supposed he must have seen the date when he had been flipping through it. That made sense.

She stared down at it with a warm expression before she carefully placed it back in the box. She would have to thank him after class. She did not want to misplace it in the meantime. She supposed she could wear it now, but having something new and shiny on her wrist while teaching would most certainly distract herself.

She already was having trouble associating her new hair and eye color with herself. Having one less thing to think about would be good for now.

She paused again. Her new appearance seemed to unnerve most at the monastary. She could not help but wonder what Jeralt might think of her now. Would he find her strange, too?

...No. He never would, she decided firmly. He was never had been the sort to let a change in appearance bother him.

She tucked the box safely away in her desk and prepared for another day of teaching. With graduation on the horizon, she had to ensure class went smoothly in the meanwhile. They needed a bit of normalcy before the end of the year. It was the least she could do for them, as their teacher. If she tried hard enough, maybe she could pretend everything was normal, even though it felt like she was drowning. Perhaps this was the new normal.

She hated the very thought.

**Author's Note:**

> This started as a drabble to write something based on the unfortunate choice of giving my Byleth a birthday in the second month and having everything plot related happen all at once, but I've realized I can write a bit more with this idea. I'll have the next two parts out in the coming week. This was my first 3H fic but not my first FE fic (though it's the first one I'm posting here). I hope you liked it anyway. ^^


End file.
